Frank Turner responds to criticism of his ‘Campfire Punkrock’ event

"It might not be for everyone, but it's just one small event among everything else I'll be doing"

Frank Turner has responded to criticism of his taking part in the event ‘Campfire Punkrock’ – as prices range up to $1,999.

From July 30 – August 3, fans will be able to attend an ‘inspirational and interactive experience’ with Turner, at the Forever Wild Catskill Forest Preserve.

“Ultimately, the common thread through the Campfire Punkrock experience is the integration of instructional and social elements, as well as personal interface with the artists – not only at workshops and jam sessions, but also at breakfast, lunch and dinner and throughout evening activities,” reads the description on the website.

“Whether you are a musician or an enthusiastic fan, Campfire Punkrock is specifically designed to provide an inspirational and interactive experience, offering the opportunity to truly take a step ‘Beyond Backstage’.”

However, in response to the criticism, Turner said that this was just a small part of the events he had on offer for fans in the year ahead – and that he’d worked to make it as inclusive as possible.

“Like Peter Buck, Melissa Auf der Maur, Todd Rungren, Richard Thompson and many others before me, I’m doing a Music Masters camp next summer in upstate New York, in amongst the rest of my regular touring schedule,” Turner told NME. “It’s an all-inclusive package, four nights full bed and board in a resort, so it might not be for everyone, but it’s just one small event among everything else I’ll be doing next year – releasing a new record, with the usual run of tours, festivals and benefit shows that comes with that.

“I work hard to make sure that what I do is accessible to everyone. If I don’t see people at the camp, there will be plenty of other shows where we can hang out.”

“I’ve got a mountain of new material at the moment but I have two reservations about it,” Turner told NME. “The first being that I feel ‘Positive Songs…’ felt like a sort of conclusionary statement. It wasn’t written that way, but looking back on it feels like that’s me wrapping up a certain era of my songwriting.

“Another way of saying it is I feel like I have the opportunity to go somewhere new and somewhere different at this point, so I’m thinking about doing something reasonably radically different next time round, but we’ll see. And of course, [since Trump won the election] I’ve been thinking about trying to react to the world as it is in 2016 perhaps a bit more openly in my art.”